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Fantasy Baseball Bests, Busts and Waiver Wire: May 13

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Athlon Sports takes a look at what took place this past weekend on the fantasy baseball diamond.

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Fantasy Baseball Bests, Busts and Waiver Wire: May 13</p>

Stay tuned each week to Athlon Sports for a 2013 Fantasy Baseball Weekend Waiver Wire report every Monday. Our fantasy junkies cover the hottest hitters, best waiver wire pick ups, top starting pitching spot starts and sift through bullpens from around the league each week.

Top 25 fantasy baseball hitters of last week (May 6-12):

Name

Pos.

Team

R

HR

RBI

SB

BA

OPS

1.

Evan Longoria

3B

TB

8

3

11

0

.464

1.495

2.

Paul Goldschmidt

1B

ARI

5

4

9

0

.348

1.293

3.

Will Venable*

OF

SD

5

2

4

3

.368

1.113

4.

Alex Gordon

OF

KC

5

3

8

0

.393

1.165

5.

Joe Mauer

C/1B

MIN

10

0

4

0

.533

1.433

6.

Vernon Wells*

OF

NYY

4

3

7

1

.360

1.080

7.

Jean Segura

SS

MIL

5

2

2

2

.500

1.495

8.

Chris Carter*

1B/OF

HOU

4

3

8

0

.375

1.438

9.

Ryan Doumit*

C/OF

MIN

7

3

7

0

.250

.977

10.

Hunter Pence

OF

SF

7

2

3

2

.286

.904

11.

Dustin Pedroia

2B

BOS

5

1

3

1

.483

1.186

12.

James Loney*

1B

TB

5

2

5

1

.308

.994

13.

Jhonny Peralta*

SS

DET

8

1

1

1

.438

1.300

14.

Justin Morneau*

1B

MIN

5

0

9

0

.407

.905

15.

Jose Bautista

OF

TOR

4

2

7

0

.360

1.158

16.

Marco Scutaro*

2/3/SS

SF

4

1

5

0

.467

1.234

17.

Ian Desmond

SS

WAS

4

2

6

0

.389

1.283

18.

Jose Altuve

2B

HOU

4

1

3

2

.364

.920

19.

Dan Uggla*

2B

ATL

9

2

3

0

.240

.905

20.

Shane Victorino

OF

BOS

6

2

2

0

.393

1.076

21.

Adrian Beltre

3B

TEX

4

2

7

0

.308

.948

22.

Matt Dominguez*

3B

HOU

4

2

6

0

.333

1.000

23.

Nick Swisher

1B/OF

CLE

6

2

4

0

.308

1.071

24.

Edwin Encarnacion

1B

TOR

3

2

6

1

.269

.875

25.

Manny Machado

3B

BAL

5

0

3

1

.444

.983

* - less than 70% owned in Yahoo! leagues

Weekly Waiver Wire:

Justin Morneau, 1B, MIN (57% owned in Yahoo! leagues)
I have been going to the Twins waiver wire well for a couple of weeks now and Morneau is the next name to add — as could Ryan Doumit and his "C" eligibility. The former MVP is on a eight-game hitting streak that raised his average from .250 to .285. He won't ever return to big-bopper, MVP form, but he is very serviceable in more than one category on a team that seems to be improving.

James Loney, 1B, TB (27%)
I told fantasy GMs to add the light-hitting first baseman two weeks ago and Loney has delivered in a big way. He has five three-hit games and eight multi-hit performances in his last 14 starts, raising his average to .376. He won't hit for power but he should hit for average and drive in runs. If you need help at the corner spot, there is plenty to like on the wire this week.

Chris Carter, 1B, HOU (21%)
Carter too is appearing for the second time on this list. He must always be mentioned with a warning label for a low average and no speed. But he simply keeps producing this year. He is a last-resort option but if you need power, Carter is worth a look after three dingers last week. That's 25 HRs in his last 104 games.

Jhonny Peralta, SS, DET (48%)
The aging middle infielder makes the list due to his position alone. He won't maintain his .315 average as a career .266 hitter with three of his four seasons producing sub-.255 rates. However, his .299 in 2011 was extremely useful. He will help most rosters at his position and plays for one of the best offenses in the league. Don't expect too much but Peralta can be a stopgap until, say, Jose Reyes or Hanley Ramirez return.

1. Tony Cingrani, CIN: (Thur.) at Miami (73% owned)
He hasn't been elite in his last two starts, but he still boasts a pretty tasty line: 28.0 IP, 2-0, 2.89/1.00, 37 K, 7 BB. And the Miami Marlins should pose little to no threat for a surging team (7-2). Look for the rook to get back on track this week.

2. Wade Miley, ARI: (Sun.) at Miami (72%)
The young lefty had two rough starts in a row (9.1 IP, 0-1, 4 ER, 10 BB) before bouncing back last time out. He tossed 7.2 innings against the Dodgers, allowing two earned runs while striking out four with no walks. Against the Marlins, Miley is all systems go.

3. Jose Fernandez, MIA: (Thur.) Cincinnati (44%)
The extremely talented rookie is owned in less than half of Yahoo! leagues and I have no idea why. The elite prospect will have his rough outings but has way too much natural ability. Over his last two starts, The Cuban defector is 2-0 with three earned runs allowed and 16 strikeouts in 13.0 innings.

4. Travis Wood, CHC: (Sun.) NY Mets (52%)
Wood has been the Cubs team MVP to this point, posting awesome 2.33/0.93 ratios over 46.1 innings and is 7-for-7 in quality starts. Against the Mets this weekend, that streak should continue.

5. Trevor Cahill, ARI: (Fri.) Philadelphia (59%)
The Reds and D-Backs — who each face Miami this week — are a good place to look for pitching. Cahill hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in four straight starts with two wins. He isn't great in K:BB leagues but should be on target against the lowly Marlins this weekend.

Closing Morsels:

Joel Hanrahan will soon undergo flexor tendon surgery, ending his 2013 season while Andrew Bailey is targeting a late-week return. In the mean time, stay away from Boston's pen. Koji Uehara has allowed four baserunners and two runs in his last three innings while Junichi Tazawa has given up at least two hits and one run in each of his last two outings. Bailey can't return fast enough ... Cleveland closer Chris Perez has been excellent in his few chances this year. However, he complained of shoulder soreness this weekend and was held out of the save chance in the ninth on Sunday. Monitor ... I don't like the idea, but Heath Bell might need to be added. If desperate, the current D-Backs closer is a worth a look. As expected, he has three saves and two blown saves in his eight outings. But he's got the ninth for now. Keep David Hernandez close by... Brandon League has allowed 10 ER in his last 11.1 IP. Is it time for Kenley Jansen in the ninth? It worked well last year ... The Royals went 1-6 last week and didn't have many chances but Greg Holland only pitched one inning after his blow-up last Monday. It was spotless and featured two Ks so it looks like owners will keep getting saves — but at what price? Aaron Crow's line: 9.1 IP, ER, SV, 6 HLD, 7 K, 0.96/0.86 ... Toronto's Sergio Santos and Los Angeles' Ryan Madson are scheduled to return in the next week. Keep an eye on both as they could be primary setup men and potential stopgap closers in case of injury.

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